Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Middle East: Peace Negotiations

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the effect on the viability of the Middle East peace process of (a)(i) Fatah describing as a hero and (ii) Hamas announcing great pride in a terrorist whose shooting of a pregnant woman led to the death of her child and (b) other recent examples of the culture of radicalisation in Palestinian society; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: ​We are gravely concerned by the ongoing and increasing violence in the West Bank. We condemn recent the terrorist attacks in the Old City of Jerusalem and in the West Bank and have called for the cycle of violence to end. We are deeply concerned by continued incitement against Israel by Hamas and other actors we are clear the glorification of terrorists as “martyrs” is a barrier to peace and we condemn such glorifications. The calls for the murder of Palestinian politicians are also completely unacceptable. President Abbas and the Palestinian Authority have repeatedly demonstrated their commitment to non-violence and a negotiated two-state solution. It is important that the Palestinian leadership continue efforts to fully implement the recommendations of the Quartet Report regarding incitement. The Government is committed to making progress towards a two-state solution, and we will continue to press the parties to refrain from actions that make peace more difficult.

Russia: Mass Media

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) content and (b) level of disinformation spread by (a) the Russian state,(b) agents of the Russian state, (c) Russian, non-state actors in the UK.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK is at the forefront of a growing international consensus on the need to take action against disinformation, regardless of source or intent. The Government continues to monitor the nature and level of the threat posed by Russian state-sponsored disinformation. As the Prime Minister said in her Mansion House speech in November 2017, Russia is seeking to weaponise information, deploying its state-run media organisations to plant fake stories and photo-shopped images in an attempt to sow discord in the West and undermine our institutions. Following the Salisbury attack in March 2018, the Russian state and Russian state media pushed out a deluge of disinformation with over 40 different narratives to confuse audiences and distract from Russian culpability.

Spain: Prisoners

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Spanish counterpart on prisoners who were members of the Catalan Parliament that on hunger strike.

Sir Alan Duncan: The British Government has been clear that the situation in Catalonia is a matter for Spain. The British Government has not had discussions with Spain regarding the separatist prisoners on hunger strike.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Migrant Workers

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of his Department paying the £65 application fee for settled or pre-settled status for EU nationals (a) employed by and (b) working as an outsourced worker in his Department; what estimate he has made of the total cost to his Department of paying those fees; and what assessment he has made of the risks that the EU Settlement Scheme poses to the retention of EU nationals (i) employed by or (ii) working as an outsourced worker in his Department.

Sir Alan Duncan: No assessment has been made. Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) employees must be British nationals so the Settlement Scheme does not apply. Outsourced workers are not FCO employees so this would be a decision for their employer.

British Nationals Abroad: Detainees

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many referrals have been made to the pro-bono medical panel in cases of torture or ill-treatment in each year since 2010.

Harriett Baldwin: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) pro bono medical panel can provide advice to British nationals in detention overseas about health matters following an assessment of their medical records and other relevant information. This is not limited to those cases where torture and/or mistreatment has been alleged. We do not keep statistics of the number or type of referrals made.

British Nationals Abroad: Detainees

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many referrals have been made to the pro bono legal panel in relation to cases of serious human rights violations since 2010.

Harriett Baldwin: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) pro bono lawyers panel can assist British nationals imprisoned or detained overseas who are facing legal proceedings where there are concerns about human rights violations. Where appropriate, members of the panel can provide advice and expertise to British nationals and their local lawyers, with their consent, on issues of international human rights law. We do not keep statistics of the number or type of referrals made.

British Nationals Abroad: Detainees

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure consular rights of UK citizens detained abroad in accordance with the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

Harriett Baldwin: The support that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) can provide to British nationals detained overseas is set out in Support for British nationals abroad: a guide. Where required, we have reminded other countries of their obligations under 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, including to inform us of British nationals detained overseas without delay, and the right to visit them, where applicable.

British Nationals Abroad: Detainees

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many reports of allegations of (a) torture and (b) ill treatment his Department has received from UK citizens overseas in each year since 2010.

Harriett Baldwin: We take all allegations of torture and mistreatment affecting a British national very seriously, and, with the individual's consent, will follow up with action appropriate to the circumstances of the case. We review all cases and strategies biannually. As of November 2018, we reviewed 132 allegations reported to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), of which 91 were reported since November 2017.

Ministry of Justice

Magistrates' Courts: Hammersmith

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much money his Department spent on the (a) planning brief, (b) marketing and (c) tendering process for Hammersmith Magistrates’ Court.

Lucy Frazer: Details of HM Courts & Tribunals Service spend on (a) and (b) are as follows: Planning Brief £96,600Marketing £9,913.20 Spending on the planning brief relates to the initial feasibility and design work in preparation for the pre-planning meeting. On (c) no money was spent on a tendering process for Hammersmith Magistrates’ Court.

Magistrates' Courts: Hammersmith

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what bids were received for the sale of Hammersmith Magistrates’ Court; and whether those bids were based on the planning brief recommending the site for residential use.

Lucy Frazer: A total of 30 initial bids were received for the purchase of Hammersmith Magistrates’ Court. A shortlist of viable bids was considered against evaluation criteria that included an assessment of the deliverability of housing units.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Local Digital Fund

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many applications were received for the first round of funding from the Local Digital Fund.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will provide a timeline for the distribution of the remaining funds from the Local Digital Fund.

Jake Berry: The first round of the £7.5 million Local Digital Fund closed on 15 November 2018. A total of 77 full applications were received from local authorities; a shortlist of 27 was examined by an external panel of sector experts, who recommended that 16 receive funding in this round. The 16 successful projects will receive £1,251,492 in total.We are also training over 1000 local authority staff in digital skills, which will start in January 2019.Overall, we will be investing over £1 million in digital skills and releasing a further 2 rounds of funding next financial year. We will use the 2019-20 funding rounds to develop and scale the most promising innovations we’ve invested in this time around, and the team will be sharing their lessons and plans openly via the MHCLG Digital blog.

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence: Operating Costs

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of his Department's budget has been spent on administration costs in each year for which information is available; and how much is projected to be so spent in the 2018-19 financial year.

Stuart Andrew: Our Annual Report and Accounts provides data on administration expenditure in previous financial years: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mod-annual-reports. We will be publishing this financial year's figures in our next Annual Report.

Patrol Craft: Scotland

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has plans to base River-class Offshore Patrol Vessels in Scottish ports. .

Stuart Andrew: The Ministry of Defence has recently announced Batch 1 Offshore Patrol Vessels will be retained to support Batch 2, so the Royal Navy can continue to play an important role in protecting the whole of the UK’s waters. There are currently no plans for the vessels to be stationed in Scottish ports.

Armed Forces: Vehicles

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2018 to Question 200133 on Armed Forces: Vehicles, whether Hexavalent Chromium is still being used in vehicle servicing by his Department; and on what date the decision was made to undertake that research.

Stuart Andrew: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is committed to managing and reducing hazardous substances and restricted materials throughout the lifetime of equipment to reduce the risk of harm to both human health and the environment. However, Hexavalent Chromium is still used when necessary. The MOD has instigated testing and evaluation of chromate-free paint products since 2012. This research is due to finish in the first quarter of 2019.

Ministry of Defence: Migrant Workers

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of his Department paying the £65 application fee for settled or pre-settled status for EU nationals (a) employed by and (b) working as an outsourced worker in his Department; what estimate he has made of the total cost to his Department of paying those fees; and what assessment he has made of the risks that the EU Settlement Scheme poses to the retention of EU nationals (i) employed by or (ii) working as an outsourced worker in his Department.

Mark Lancaster: The UK Government currently does not plan to pay the Settled Status Fee for its non-UK EU citizen employees. The fee is set at an affordable rate (£65), less than the cost of an UK passport. Outsourced workers are not employees of the Department and therefore this would be a decision for their employers. The number of non-UK EU citizens employed across the Civil Service is not consistently collected across Government. It is therefore not possible to estimate the cost of paying the settled status fee for non-UK EU nationals employed directly by the Department. We value the significant contribution made by EU citizens working in the Civil Service and we want these colleagues to continue to play a full role in the work of the Civil Service. We are committed to supporting our EU citizen employees across the Civil Service, the important engagement with EU national networks across government will continue over the coming months.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Migrant Workers

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of his Department paying the £65 application fee for settled or pre-settled status for EU nationals (a) employed by and (b) working as an outsourced worker in his Department; what estimate he has made of the total cost to his Department of paying those fees; and what assessment he has made of the risks that the EU Settlement Scheme poses to the retention of EU nationals (i) employed by or (ii) working as an outsourced worker in his Department.

George Eustice: In line with other UK Government Departments, Defra currently does not plan to pay the Settled Status Fee for its non-UK EU citizen employees. The fee is set at an affordable rate (£65), less than the cost of a UK passport. It is not possible to estimate the cost of paying the settled status fee for non-UK EU nationals employed directly by the Department as nationality was not collected until October 2012 as part of pre-employment checks. The Department does not therefore hold this information for a proportion of permanent staff employed by the Department. Outsourced workers are not employees of the Department and therefore this would be a decision for their employers. We value the significant contribution made by EU citizens working in the Civil Service and we want these colleagues to continue to play a full role in the work of the Civil Service. We are committed to supporting our EU citizen employees across the Civil Service, and the important engagement with EU national networks across Government will continue over the coming months.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Migrant Workers

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of his Department paying the £65 application fee for settled or pre-settled status for EU nationals (a) employed by and (b) working as an outsourced worker in his Department; what estimate he has made of the total cost to his Department of paying those fees; and what assessment he has made of the risks that the EU Settlement Scheme poses to the retention of EU nationals (i) employed by or (ii) working as an outsourced worker in his Department.

Margot James: The UK Government currently does not plan to pay the Settled Status Fee for its non-UK EU citizen employees. The fee is set at an affordable rate (£65), less than the cost of an UK passport.Outsourced workers are not employees of the Department and therefore this would be a decision for their employers.DCMS staff declare their national identity voluntarily so this may not be a true representation of the workforce as a whole. Therefore it wouldn’t be appropriate to use this information to determine the cost to the department of paying these fees.We value the significant contribution made by EU citizens working in the DCMS and we want these colleagues to continue to play a full role in the work of the department. We are committed to supporting our EU citizen employees across the department.